LSU quarterback [autotag]Garrett Nussmeier[/autotag] headed to the locker room in the first quarter of Saturday’s game against Oklahoma with an apparent shoulder injury.
It appeared doubtful that he would return to the game but the redshirt junior gunslinger found his way back to the field and finished the game with 277 yards and three touchdowns.
Two of those touchdown passes went to junior wide receiver [autotag]Chris Hilton[/autotag] for big plays with the pair finally establishing a deep-ball connection.
Head coach Brian Kelly praised Nussmeier for his “grit and toughness” against the Sooners.
“That’s an easy tap-out for most people,” Kelly said. “That’s an easy one to say, ‘I’m not coming back’ but that’s the kind of player he is. That’s the kind of competitor he is.”
Following the game, Kelly and Nussmeier acknowledged the noise surrounding the program from LSU’s midseason three-game losing streak to the recruiting trail.
Despite the chaos, the Tigers stayed the course and finished the 2024 regular season with two wins in Death Valley and await their bowl game selection.
“When they’re talked about in a manner that they have been over the past two to three weeks, you want them to buckle down, but on their mouth guard and go out there and play,” Kelly said. “That’s what they did and that’s what he [Nussmeier] did.”
Saturday marked the final home game for several LSU seniors, which made Nussmeier push even harder to return in order to help “send these seniors out on the right note.”
“I wanted to be out here for these guys,” Nussmeier said. “I’m going to miss these seniors. LSU means so much to me, these colors mean so much to me. I couldn’t imagine sitting there and watching some of my teammates play their last game without me.”